It will be the ‘Impossible Job’ to follow in the footsteps of the greatest British manager of all time, so United have to get it right.[>

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Jose Mourinho, David Moyes, Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce have all been strongly linked – but now Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola has entered the equation in a big way.[>

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The fact Fergie likes and respects the 39-year-old is massively in his favour. Guardiola is also a winner, like Ferguson.[>

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After taking over from Frank Rijkaard in June 2008, he went on to do the Spanish treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in his first season.[>

[> And though the European Cup was not retained last season, Guardiola did guide his club to a second successive league title.

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He won many trophies as a tough, defensive midfield player with Barcelona and was a member of Johan Cruyff’s dream team that won the club’s first European Cup.[>

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What Guardiola would bring to the biggest club job in English football is, significantly, mystique.[>

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United fans and, indeed players, will have seen him smartly dressed and in control on the touchline and that’s the end of their relationship with him. From a distance. They don’t know him.[>

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All supporters in the world have an opinion about Chelsea’s former ‘Special One’ Mourinho and the controversial world he steps in and out of.[>

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You either love or hate Mourinho and there is no question one day he holds a desire to return to the Premier League with Manchester United.[>

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Everton manager Moyes is highly thought of inside Old Trafford and one day he will need to test his management skills at the highest level. Is that too much of a gamble for United now?[>

[> Bruce, too, is untried at the top level. To his advantage the fans love him as a former captain although he needs a bigger club than Sunderland before making the step up to Old Trafford.

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Hughes drops into that category. Ruthlessly sacked by Manchester City, he needs to rebuild, with Fulham only a stepping stone in his career path. [>

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Liverpool have discovered just how hard it is to pick a manager. Roy Hodgson was, they believed, a safe pair of hands to replace Rafael Benitez and yet they are in the bottom three of the Premier League.[>

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Hodgson must prove himself to new American owners and that was not on his ‘must do’ list when he took over in the summer. [>

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It is interesting United should be sounding out candidates so soon after controversial American owners, the Glazer family, committed themselves to releasing money for transfers. Will these now be Ferguson’s choices or the new main man’s?[>

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Things are moving quickly behind the scenes at United, with new arrivals planned and existing players getting new deals.[>

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Guardiola has a rolling contract at the Nou Camp and is highly thought of, yet he doesn’t have total control. It is something he desires – complete power like Ferguson and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger enjoy.[>

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He wants to choose his own players rather than be handed them by a president.[>

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Salary would not be a huge issue for him. He is not a mercenary who would demand the earth. The biggest incentive for Guardiola would be the challenge of English football and managing a club like United. What a period this has been for them, with last week’s Wayne Rooney saga eventually settled by Ferguson’s man-management skills. [>

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Now a clear indication comes that the old master, 69 in December, is making plans for retirement.[>

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What Fergie displayed with Rooney was a toughness for all situations. Guardiola, too, has a ruthless streak, dealing with big-name players and getting the best out of a multi-national and multi-talented squad.[>

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Barca’s World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi once said: “He is a player’s manager and that is the biggest compliment I can pay him.”[>

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There will, of course, never be another Ferguson. Nor will there be another United boss who remains in control for so long.[>

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Today’s top managers don’t hang around to clean their trophies. They arrive, they win and they move on. [>

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Mourinho won the lot in his second season at Inter Milan and swept quickly on to Real Madrid. Once he has won the Champions League for them he will be gone. [>

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Guardiola is in his third season at Barcelona and the football they play has been his hallmark. Who will ever forget last season’s first-half display at Arsenal?[>

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It was breathtaking, mesmerizing, a performance you could not take your eyes off. United fans will relate to that. [>

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In the stands, pubs and at work they will have debated who could possibly take over from Ferguson. And when. ‘What about Bruce, don’t fancy Moyes, Mourinho? How about Keane or Hughes?’[>

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None of them would have considered Guardiola. If this comes off and he is in place for the start of next season, then it might just be an inspired choice. He ticks all the boxes.[>